Helena, Montana - Michael A. Kilroy will be sworn in today as an Immigration Judge during an investiture ceremony at 2:00 p.m., in the Federal District Court, Courtroom 532, in the Federal Building, 301 South Park, Helena, Montana. Chief Immigration Judge Michael J. Creppy, from the Executive Office for Immigration Review in Falls Church, Virginia, will administer the oath of office.

Judge Kilroy joins the ranks of 220 Immigration Judges located in 53 Immigration Courts throughout the Nation. They are responsible for conducting formal administrative proceedings to determine whether foreign-born individuals who are charged with violations of Federal immigration law should be removed from the United States or may be granted relief from removal. Immigration Judges decide each case independently and their decisions are final unless appealed or certified to the Board of Immigration Appeals. In the past year, Immigration Judges completed more than 250,000 such proceedings. They are also authorized to administer oaths of citizenship to candidates for naturalization.

Judge Kilroy was appointed Immigration Judge in May 2001. He received his undergraduate degree in 1970 from the University of Montana and his Juris Doctorate in 1973 from the University of Montana School of Law. Judge Kilroy served as an Air Force Judge Advocate from August 1973 to January 2001 and retired as a Colonel. His Air Force career included three assignments as a military criminal trial judge at Travis AFB, CA, from 1990 to 1991, and Yakota AB, Japan, from 1991 to 1993 and again from 1998 to 2000. Judge Kilroy is a member of the Montana Bar.